White Fragility, Introduction

 

 

Garrett McLeod

Professor Stewart-Steele

ENGL 1303

31 January 2021

 White Fragility, Introduction

            What DiAngelo means by “White Fragility”, is the anger and petulance that bursts out, as if a fragile surface has been pierced, when people feel their morals and character have been challenged upon being accused, at least in their mind, of taking part in the crimes that make up the history of American racism. It is only how she puts her ideas into practice, that I question about her workshops discussed in the introduction.

Profound Change in the Workplace?

The first thing that jumps out to me is the fact that she was hired by their employer. If my employer was the one making me engage in a dialogue about race, I would not exactly be very receptive to the potential of achieving profound personal development in that context. When I am at work, and this is the case for most people I think, we go to work in order to earn a paycheck, not because we want to. So, it just does not make sense to me that she is attempting to foster truly life-changing personal shifts in world-view, in a context where the subjects are fundamentally in that room at that moment for primary purpose of keeping their job and maintaining their livelihood. I want to be as clear as possible, I am not suggesting that the indignant objection to racial workshops which she mentioned was not only because they have to be there to keep their job. I recognize, and I am very familiar with the petulant and deeply offended reactions that occur when I make attempts to have a similar conversation with members of my own family who have said racist remarks around me. The difference in my view, is that those conversations are built on a pre-existing relationship based on unconditional love and trust, a different situation from that of a seminar-leader, as much as I agree with her, and an employee. An employee who we can be confident will not be receptive from the start, because of their white fragility, and then are made even less likely to be receptive because they are essentially employees on the job, only there for a paycheck, and dying to just go home when it comes down to it.

Identity Politics

In current American politics, the message of her writing on identity politics is vital. She is pointing out the appalling hypocrisy, which frequently angers me personally whenever I come across it, that those who complain about identity politics taking over culture, are the same people who outright deny the ferocity of White identity politics in our history, or the fact that White identity politics subsists to this day. Any seemingly undue focus on identity politics in the opposite direction, is a necessary correction upon the history of White identity politics that have defined our country, and still exist.  

Conclusion

I know this book is about racism primarily, not income inequality, but the two are inextricably linked in America especially. And so, when the plight of lower-class Whites, now suffering from the same socio-economic issues that have been imposed by the White upper-class on African Americans since the birth of America, is declared to be a problem, it is categorized as another fabricated defense of offended White people. To be clear, I acknowledge that those inequalities are affecting minorities, and African Americans more than any other minority, even more so than Whites. I just wished that the pointing out of lower-class white suffering was given a little more credence, and not grouped in with the mostly fantasized grievances that are given as a defense of their complicity with White supremacy.